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Topic: The Hasbro/Retail/Case Pack Situation (Read 5414 times)

K-Mart got TONS of Wave 1 in, but over time (not all at once)... Almost all have sold through, at all the stores I hit.

K-Mart by me got at least 2 cases of Wave 2... Again, almost all gone.

K-Mart got Wave 3 in today. I expect the same thing.

My point is, people need to start faulting retail a ****load more for their over-ordering (or not changing DPCI's, or not supporting the line at all), rather than faulting Hasbro for stuff... I know that's the "in thing" to do, but seriously... Case assortments weren't GREAT, but at the same time, perhaps in a non-movie year, retail should be held somewhat accountable... If K-Mart can do it, why can't Wal-Mart? Or Target? They can too. TRU would be in bigger trouble if not for sales... which again, where are WM and Target on that front?

My point is, people need to start faulting retail a ****load more for their over-ordering (or not changing DPCI's, or not supporting the line at all), rather than faulting Hasbro for stuff... I know that's the "in thing" to do, but seriously... Case assortments weren't GREAT, but at the same time, perhaps in a non-movie year, retail should be held somewhat accountable... If K-Mart can do it, why can't Wal-Mart? Or Target? They can too. TRU would be in bigger trouble if not for sales... which again, where are WM and Target on that front?

Very well said Jesse. Granted the case assortments could be better, but Target and Wal-Mart allotting just 1 or 2 pegs (if not zero) to any given assortment has to be a big part of the problem. I recall hearing that Target's automatic re-order triggers only when the product quantity hits 1 less than the number of spaces/pegs, which would mean my local store (with one peg for TBS) only restocks when there are no figures left.

Think about the line since it began, since most of us here have been around that long or longer... Have case assortments ever NOT been flawed to some degree? It's my opinion you'll never have them perfect...

Short a Leia figure, it becomes hard to find, people bitch.

Short an OWK? Hard to find, people bitch.

Short a Troop Builder? Prepare for the dip**** apocalypse.

Double up on a figure? Eventually it becomes too abundant, people bitch.

Anyone remember Maul in 1999? Full cases... That worked GREAT huh?

This is the leanest time, ever I think, that the modern line has existed and still soldiered on in some capacity. You can't expect movie-year tactics (which didn't work in a movie year, mind you) to work now... Likewise you can't expect Hasbro to cater to collectors, especially at times like this.

It boils down that EVERY wave, right now, will sit... You could make something totally awesome fill all 12 slots, and it is such a stale market for Star Wars right now that if a store orders just one-case-too-many, and you're now looking at a logjam. In years when the line has support, toys move at a steady flow, but those times aren't right now.

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2007 I saw EVERY wave at least once, most two or three times, some more than that. Good figures. Good prices. Collector dream come true year... Between all 4 major retailers (KM, WM, Target, TRU), I saw everything, and it was glorious... Those days, are not today. It's not the same market, same prices, same retail landscape. It's easy to point the finger at the source nearest to us, and the one that reacts to us... The one that has some kind of contact with the collector world. If Target or Wal-Mart did, and were giving out answers to tough questions that people didn't want to hear, I bet you'd see a lot more finger pointing going in the direction I think it's deserved at this point.

I can agree with that. Most of my Wal-Marts have either not ordered any new Star Wars since the TPM Vintage wave two years ago or have eliminated SW space altogether. Target has bare shelves/pegs for pretty much everything outside of LEGO, and it has looked like that for months. TRU has... stuff. Overpriced stuff, but never anything interesting or new enough to buy.

I'm going to spend a bit of my tax return on a case of Wave 3 figures, because like Jesse said, it's the easiest way. I don't WANT a lot of the figures I'm going to get (Clones, etc.) but I'd rather be done with it in one swoop than spend gas driving all over town looking for something that's not even going to be there in the first place.

This reminds me a lot of the POTJ days. K-Mart was the only place I ever found 50% of that line. I think their tactic of getting few cases over time works a lot better in non-movie/entertainment years.

I can't recall POTJ a lot now that I think back... I know I got tons of the Imperial Officer at Wal-Mart though, and I think some at a store called Family Toy Ware(whore)house that we used to have around here... Not sure how national they were back in the day but their prices were always a tad higher but the store was 15 minutes away so I couldn't gripe in my young days.

I remember getting tons of that Imp Officer/FX7 Wave though at WM. K-Mart, I can't recall, but I know they had the Deluxes in before everyone else... And I cleaned up on the wave 2 of deluxes on clearance at Ames (heh, Ames... The poor man's Hills).

Just thinking back, hell, how many stores did we have that aren't around anymore too... That's what happens when places like Target and WM kill off competition. It's kind of disheartening to know how many fewer places there are now, than then, that sell toys. No wonder Amazon and online stores like EE and BBTS are better options.

Ah, the POTJ days, one of my favorite times in collecting. It was relatively easy to keep up and find things, the prices were good, and the figures were pretty good for that time. Although I'm not really actively looking for anything in the 3 3/4" Black Series right now (aside from maybe a Merumeru), it is pretty much non-existant around here. Our local Target doesn't seem to carry it anymore (just Legends/2 Packs and 6"), WM usually doesn't carry it either (although I did see Wave 1 there around Christmas), and TRU usually has the same Wave 1 leftovers.

You guys mentioning the POTJ days, I remember having to hit different places for different figures. I remember only finding the 300th Fett at K-Mart, along with a few others, and the Lando/R2-Q5? wave at Target, and the Bespin Han/Leia/Chewie figures at Wal-Mart I believe. Not sure how I remember those, but that was a line that really had a nice pace of releases to it as I remember and something new to look for every month or so.

Kmart distribution is easier to manage now that they're down to 37 stores. You're lucky to still have one around. I definitely think retail plays a role in lack of availability, but I think you're ignoring some really terrible assortment choices from Hasbro that aren't helping matters. Look at the 6" line. The first wave sold fairly evenly with 4 different figs. W2 doubles up on Han and no one can find Fett. W3 doubles up on Kenobi when everyone wants at least one Stormtrooper. Complain about retail all you want - if it was your store and you were sitting around with extra Ben and Han figures, you'd be gun shy about ordering the next wave of figures too. There are some obvious misses in these selections (double up on Fett, use a repainted Sandtrooper for your 4th "extra" figure, double up on Stormtrooper, etc) that would help retail sell through faster and regain their confidence in the line. On the 4" side I will never understand why they don't release all new figure cases (2x of 6 for example), then manage in a greatest hits case one a year with the figures that were most popular.

That was something of a jab at their store closings. There are still about 1200 stores open in the US as of this time last year. Target has about 1800 stores domestically and Walmart has over 4,000 for comparison. I'm personally a little bitter about KMart finds because I used to live just a mile from one and now they're impossible for me to get to. I frequently drive by 3 of the 872 ToysRUs stores in my area, but getting to a KMart requires mapquest and a packed lunch.

That was something of a jab at their store closings. There are still about 1200 stores open in the US as of this time last year. Target has about 1800 stores domestically and Walmart has over 4,000 for comparison. I'm personally a little bitter about KMart finds because I used to live just a mile from one and now they're impossible for me to get to. I frequently drive by 3 of the 872 ToysRUs stores in my area, but getting to a KMart requires mapquest and a packed lunch.

Funny... because they'd closed so many stores, and I care so little about them, that when you say 37 I don't find it unbelievable.

One is possibly the best store ever, and they currently stock (and re-stock) toys more frequently than Wal-Mart or Target. The store is clean, well organized, and in a fairly nice location. It is tied with TRU at the moment as my favorite place to look for toys.

The other K-Mart... it's a Glock store. It is located in a nice area, but the store itself is trashy and dirty. Poorly organized and run (like... new items in a clearance aisle, several week late resets, POTF2 back stock/returns in 2011), lazy employees, and all-around deplorable shopping experience.